Start Your Job Search for Teaching Jobs in [mmjs-city] Now!

What You’ll Need to get a Job in Education-Teaching

Facts About Getting Education & Teaching Jobs

Problems with teaching unions, parents, difficult students and finding work aside, many people love the idea of working as a teacher because of the ability to impart knowledge, mentor students and even help mold them into the adults that they will become! Teaching comes with many rewards for the right person and if that sounds like you, then what do you need to do to get started on this path?

Educating Yourself to be an Educator

There are a couple of paths you can take in your studies, depending on what kind of education you want to work in. There are elementary school degrees, special education degrees and if you have your masters or Ph.D, you can teach at the post-secondary level. You may choose to specialize, such as teaching history or mathematics at the high school level or you can choose to teach at a lower level and teach everything.

A good place to start is to get a Bachelor’s degree in something you are interested in (or even just in Arts) and then move to the teaching program which is usually a 1-2 year program. This lets you teach in most public schools once you have your certification. However, if you want to teach in a more specialized field, then you’ll have to improve your education in those fields by getting a BA or B.Sc in your chosen field or a higher degree.

Your education as a teacher will include things like communication skills, marking, dealing with students, teaching your subjects, creating lesson plans and a curriculum where you will ‘shadow’ a teacher and help out in classes. By the time you’re done, you should be equipped to work in any public school and sometimes in private schools as well, depending on what the school needs.

Finding a Job as a Teacher

Getting your education is one thing, but finding a job is something else and it can be very hard, depending on where you live. Teaching jobs are getting pretty saturated now and with cuts to education systems, losses of schools and a shrinking child population, it’s not easy. But if you’re determined, you should be able to pull it off. There are a couple of things to bear in mind when job hunting:

Be very flexible in your job hunting. You’ll probably have to move (my family for example, moved across the province-in a north-south direction), and you may not start out with a great teaching job to begin with.
Apply for as many jobs as possible and attend as many interviews as possible. This will give you the maximum chance at landing a job. Try both public and private schools and make sure to network with old colleagues, your mentors and other schools.
Get used to starting out small. You will more than likely have to work as a substitute teacher for a while which means short notice for hours, shorter hours and very random subjects. This can be a great learning experience, but it can also be stressful.

Most of all, be patient. Depending on where you live, getting a job could be fairly straightforward or it could mean waiting for a while. However, if you have a passion for teaching and helping students grow, it’s usually worth the wait. Good luck and remember that patience when it comes to deal with the kids, the parents and family members, other teachers, administration and unions! You never know when you’ll need it next. Enjoy and congratulations on choosing to join the ranks of teachers everywhere.